


An Unexpected Friendship

by CelestialLink



Category: Rhett and Link
Genre: Curse Breaking, Cute, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 02:11:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12901722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialLink/pseuds/CelestialLink
Summary: The year was 1943, and eight year old Rhett McLaughlin was living in a manor his father inherited in Ireland. One night, Rhett decides to explore the attic of his new home, and his life is forever changed.





	An Unexpected Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short, fluffy story. I hope you enjoy.

1902: Wake Forest Manor, Ireland

"Charles! Come here, darling!" 

Link jumped up from his bed and ran to his find his mother getting all ready to go out with his father.  The little eight year old boy looked up at his mother with curiosity. "Mother, Father, where are you going? When will you be home again?"

"We are going out to visit some family back home in America. We are taking a ship across the sea, we should be home in about a month. In that time, your nanny, Carol Anne, will be taking care of you. We'll write often, dear. Be good for Miss Carol Anne, all right? I love you, darling." Sue bent down and kissed her son atop the head. Little Link frowned, his parents were always gone, and he never had any friends to play with. To make it all worse, Carol Anne was mean, never letting the boy do anything fun. And Link could swear there was something off about his nanny. 

"Goodbye, Mother, goodbye Father. Have fun in America. If you see any of my old friends, could you please tell them I said hello?"

"Of course we will, son. Goodbye, be good!" Link's parents then turned and walked out to their car, only to be driven away by the family chauffer. The day dragged on, Link was sad and lonely. That night, the ship his parents were on came to an unexpected storm, they never made it to America.

 

1943: Wake Forest Manor, Ireland

The thunder rumbled outside shortly after the bright streak of lightning lit up the dark nighttime sky. Rhett sighed as he stared out into the darkness. The young boy was supposed to be asleep, but this storm was keeping him awake. He and his family had recently moved here, about a month ago. This lifestyle change was very hard for young Rhett. He had been living in America, when his father received a call that he inherited this mansion from his great aunt who had just recently passed away. She had been a wealthy woman who bought this mansion in the early 1900's after its previous owners died. At least, that's what she said. Rhett's family eventually moved here, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to live in another country, all the way across the world. 

As Rhett listened to the storm outside, he faintly heard crying. Rhett darted his eyes around and then hopped out of bed. He walked down the long, empty halls, listening for the crying. It slowly started to get clearer, someone was definitely crying somewhere, and Rhett wanted to find who it was. 

As he walked farther down the hall, it got clearer, louder, he was getting closer. He stopped in front of the door to the attic and pressed his ear against the old wood. The stairway that lead to the attic was kept locked, and Rhett was told he must never go up there, it might be dangerous, but he could tell, there was someone up there, and that someone was crying. A little while ago, Rhett had found where his parents hid the key to the door. It was under their bed, hidden in the lining of a decorative box. Rhett stepped back from the door and silently crept to his parents' bedroom. It was empty, his parents must have been downstairs still. He ran into the room and crawled under the large bed. There, near the wall, he found the box. It was dark, but the lightning served to light up the room frequently. Rhett opened the box and dug his small hand around until he felt the cold metal touch his skin. His fingers wrapped around the key and he snatched it out from it's hiding place. 

Rhett crawled out from under the bed and jumped up to his feet. The thunder outside cracked particularly loudly and Rhett could hear a soft yelp, followed by harder crying. The eight year old darted out of his parent's room and down the hall, the floor boards creaked as his slight weight pressed down on them. His bare feet padded softly against the old wood flooring. The boy ran to the door at the end of the hall and put the key in the lock. He turned it and heard the soft click as it unlocked. Rhett realized it was pitch black up there, and he had no flashlight, this scared him, but he could tell the crying was definitely coming from there. He slipped the key into the breast pocket of his pajamas. He licked his lips in anticipation and quickly looked behind him to make sure there was no one around. Once he was positive he was alone, Rhett turned the old knob and the door creaked open. Rhett immediately shut it after stepping in.

The young boy started to sweat and his throat went dry. He took a shaky breath, the crying was very clear now. He reached his hands out and felt the wood of the stairs in front of him. He lifted his foot and placed it on the first step. The wood groaned with each step he took and soon enough, he heard a gasp. Lightning lit the stairway and at the very top, Rhett saw a flash of something moving fast. The crying had quieted, but it was clearly still there. Rhett looked behind him and forced himself to swallow as he considered turning around and running back to his room. He decided he would, he ran down the rest of the doors and tried the knob, but the door was stuck. He started to breathe heavily as his heart pumped faster and faster. 

Rhett tried at the door again, but it wouldn't open. He looked up the stairs, his eyes adjusting slightly. The lightning flashed again and thunder boomed. The crying got louder again and Rhett squeezed his eyes shut. Storms didn't scare him, but there was someone up there, and he was trapped with this person. Rhett started to shake, but something egged him on. He started to climb the stairs again and after about two minutes of hesitation, he made it to the top. Lightning flashed again and Rhett almost screamed upon seeing the little boy curled up in the corner of the small room. The little boy did scream when he saw Rhett, and Rhett jumped. The sound of pattering feet reached Rhett's ears. The boy must have hid again. But the little boy hadn't stopped crying.

"D-don't h-hurt me..." A soft voice spoke. Rhett said nothing in response, he just stood there in the dark. Soon enough, he heard the sound of a match scratching against something and the little boy lit a candle, the room filling with a soft orange light. "Pl-please don't hurt me.." The little boy pleaded.

"I-I won't.... Who are you?"

"Link.. my name is Link.."

"I'm Rhett.. I live here, what are you doing here?"

"I live here too.. Mother and Father never came home. Carol Anne locked me up in here. Where is she?"

"Aunt Carol? My father's great aunt? She died.. We live here now. She locked you up?" Rhett sat down on the floor and the little boy nodded.

"Yes, what year is it?"

"1943."

"No, it's 1902.."

"No it isn't, I wouldn't be alive if it was 1902." The young boy sniffled and wrapped his arms around himself. He shook his head.

"I would be a grown up, I'm not a grown up."

"But it is 1943... How did you not grow up?" The little boy shrugged and buried his face in his hands. He had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that glistened in the candlelight. Link started to cry.

"The storm scares me. I miss Mother and Father. Why didn't they come home?" Link's crying got harder, he started to sob and Rhett crawled over to the boy. He swallowed and placed his hand on the boy's knee. Link's  bare knee was cold, very cold, but Rhett just assumed maybe he was cold from being up in the attic.

"The storm won't hurt you, Link. I promise. Don't be scared. It'll be okay." Link looked up at Rhett, his eyes were bright blue, but there was a cold emptiness in them too. Link nodded slowly and drew his knees closer to his chest, drawing them away from Rhett's hand. The boy wore long socks, brown shorts, and a gray sweater. Rhett placed his hand back on the wood.

"Link, you don't have to stay here, you're cold. You can come to my room, I'll hide you." Link looked up again. There was hope in those cold eyes.

"You'd do that for me?" He sniffled and wiped his tears away with his sleeve. Rhett nodded and smiled a little bit. Link returned the smile. "If you're sure it's safe, I don't want to be up here anymore. It's scary." The storm had largely passed, but Rhett had to admit, the attic was a scary place. He lifted his hand and turned it palm up.

"Link? Will you trust me?" Link looked into Rhett's green eyes, then down at the slightly older boy's hand. After a pause, Link put his hand into Rhett's and the two stood up. Link's hand was also freezing, but Rhett said nothing.

"I trust you, Rhett. Thank you." Link smiled a little and used his sleeve to wipe away his drying tears. Rhett smiled back and nodded.

"It'll be just fine. I promise. I'll make sure my parents don't find you."

"Okay,' Link nodded and slipped his hand out of Rhett's and into his pocket. He fished around in the pocket until he retracted his hand again. He opened his fingers and revealed a small locket. Inside the locket, there was a picture of his mother and one of his father. Link stared down at the pictures as the faint light of the candle flickered and glowed. Link swallowed and closer the locket, dropping it back in his pocket before bending down and blowing out the candle. The small room was once more plunged into darkness and Rhett felt Link's cold fingers gently wrap around his wrist. Once Rhett's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he lead the way to the stairs and the two boys made their descent together.

Rhett tried the doorknob, it was still stuck. He pushed the door hard and heard a soft pop and the door opened. Rhett turned around and looked at Link to make sure he was ready. Link bit his lip, but he nodded and Rhett took off running down the hall, forcing Link to run with him. Soon, the two got back to Rhett's dimly lit bedroom. Rhett let Link sleep in his bed tonight while the older boy slept on the floor with an extra pillow and a blanket. 

Morning came, and Rhett woke up before Link did. Rhett stretched out on the floor and crawled up onto his bed, gently shaking Link's shoulder to awaken the boy. Link groaned and mumbled something, he appeared to be dreaming. "...No, no, please, Carol Anne, no..." Rhett raised an eyebrow and listened to what Link was mumbling. Carol Anne, his great, great aunt, Link's nanny. "I'm not cursed.. not cursed...." Link started crying. "Mother, Father... home..." Rhett shook Link again, and the younger boy jumped and woke up. He wiped his tears and looked up at Rhett.

"Good morning, Rhett." Link bit his lip and looked up at Rhett with wide, slightly scared eyes. Rhett smiled calmly and sat down on his bed. 

"Good morning! Don't be scared, everything's okay. Were you having a bad dream?" Link sat up and nodded. He pulled at the thick material of his sleeve. He looked down at his hands.

"Yeah... I miss Mother and Father. Carol Anne told me I was cursed... Maybe that's why I haven't gotten any older. If it's 1943, I've been in that attic for forty-one years, I should be forty-nine, but I'm not. I'm eight." Link looked up at Rhett. "Why is it so cold, Rhett? I can't get warm, and you, when you touch me, it's like I'm touching fire. You're burning up, Rhett, but I'm frozen. What if, what if Carol Anne was right? Am I cursed?" Rhett could hear the fear in Link's small voice. The boy was timid, but he seemed to trust Rhett, and for that, Rhett was glad. He liked Link, but he was confused by this strange boy. It had all seemed like some sort of bizarre, realistic dream, but Rhett had awoken on the floor, and Link was sound asleep in his bed, proving to him this was no dream.

"I don't know, Link, but you are very cold, and if you haven't aged at all, maybe there's a reason for that. Maybe you need to somehow break this curse, and I want to help you find out how. I'm going to help you find out how to break this curse." Rhett looked into Link's soft blue eyes and Link looked back into his grey-green eyes. The corners of Link's mouth rose in the faintest ghost of a smile.

"Thank you, Rhett, thank you so much." Rhett smiled back at his new friend.

"You're welcome, Link. We can do it."

 

1902

"You are to stay up here until I come get you, boy. Your parents have passed away, their ship came to an unexpected bad storm, and they never reached America. Stop crying, boy, stay here until you've stopped crying and I'll let you out." Carol Anne was a tall, thin woman. Only about thirty-two. Her hair was drawn back in a loose bun, she wore a simple black dress with a grey shall tied around her shoulders. She slammed the door closed and locked it. Young Link sat down on the wooden stairs of the attack and closed his bright blue eyes. Tears escaped his closed eyelids and rolled down his cheeks, falling to the hard wood floor. He wrapped his small arms around himself and hid his face down. He made little fists, tightly gripping his sweater. 

As the hours ticked by, the boy had eventually walked up the stairs and found a small window. He placed his hand on the window as the rain started to pour down from the sky. He looked out at the expansive field of lush grass and trees that his father had owned. His thought of his parents, realizing he would never see them again. He could never hug them again, never hear them tell him that they loved him again. Link started to cry again and he looked up at the grey sky. Carol Anne never came back, except once when she came in screaming that the boy was a cursed child and that the only way the curse could be broken would be if Link learned to love again, but she wanted to make sure that would never happen. Carol Anne left Link in the old attic, locked away. That door hadn't been opened for forty-one years, until that one night, when young Rhett McLaughlin's curiosity had gotten the best of him. 

 

1943

Rhett kept Link hidden away from everyone, letting the boy stay in his room or waiting until his parents were away for the two of them to explore the house. It was the first full day Rhett had spent with Link. The two boys had snuck outside and were sitting on the land in the back. "We moved here about a month ago. We had been living in North Carolina, but Father wanted to get out of America because of the war. He was too old to be drafted for it, but as soon as he heard about Aunt Carol Anne, he wanted us to move here, at least until the war was over. And Mother thought the idea of living in another country was interesting, so we moved here." Link listened intently as Rhett talked about his life back home in North Carolina. Link couldn't remember where in America he had lived, it was so long ago, but he was fascinated by Rhett's life.

"Where you used to live, it sounds wonderful."

"It was, I miss it a lot, but I'm glad we moved here, I got to meet you." Rhett smiled when he said that and Link smiled back at him.

"I'm glad you moved here too. You're very nice, Rhett. I like you a lot. Will you, would you like to be my friend?" Rhett's smile grew and he nodded.

"I'd love to be!" Link gasped, and for the first time since Rhett had first seen him last night, the younger boy smiled a full, bright smile.

"Thank you, Rhett! Thank you!" Link laughed happily. His laugh was almost musical. It was light and full of pure joy, and young Rhett thought it reminded him of angels singing, well, what he imagined that would sound like. While Link laughed, Rhett just sat still, looking at his new friend with soft eyes and a big smile on his face. Link's eyes lit up when he laughed, and it seemed to Rhett that some of their darkness began to fade. Warmth had started to fill those cold, greyish blue eyes. Rhett sensed something was beginning to happen, and it filled his heart with joy.

"You're welcome! I'm so happy we're friends!" Rhett giggled and he flopped backwards into the soft dewy morning grass. He smiled a giant smile when he realized Link had lied down on his back near Rhett as well. The two laughed and looked up at the cloudy covered sky above them. 

"Having a friend feels wonderful, Rhett." Rhett's eyes were closed, but he could tell Link was still smiling as he spoke. Rhett took a deep breath and opened his eyes before turning and meeting his friend's eyes.

"It definitely is, Link. I'm so happy we met last night. "

"I am too."

The two eventually went back inside and ran to Rhett's room before Rhett's parents got home. Weeks went by, and Rhett had successfully kept Link hidden from his parents. They noticed a change in their son's mood, but when asked, Rhett always replied that he was learning to like Ireland and that was all, nothing he wasn't telling them. Rhett hated lying to his parent's like this, but how could he explain there was a little boy that had been living in their attic for the last forty years, but never got older? Rhett was too scared to, so, he didn't. He kept Link hidden away, his secret best friend. 

Slowly, the two had gotten closer and closer. One night, Rhett was lying on the floor like usual when Link whispered something that awoke Rhett from his near slumber. "Rhett? Are you awake? Rhett... I-I love you." Rhett stopped breathing for a moment as he let this sink in. He could hear Link swallow nervously and Rhett sat up and smiled.

"Link, I love you too." In that moment, Link started to literally glow. Rhett jumped up and turned on the light. Link's eyes completely brightened and the boy continued to glow. Link wrapped his arms around himself and took a deep breath. 

"Rhett, Rhett, I'm warm. I'm not cold anymore. The curse, you broke it. I needed to feel love, I needed to be loved, the curse, it's broken. I'm free!" Link giggled and opened his arms with a huge smile. Rhett immediately ran over to his friend and hugged him tightly. Link was right, for the first time, when Rhett touched his younger friend, he felt warmth and not coldness. Rhett hugged Link even tighter and closed his eyes tightly.

"Oh, Link, I'm so happy! We did it, we broke the curse together. We can grow up together, you're no longer trapped. You're free, Link, we did it. We did it."

That night, the two boys fell asleep, side by side, small smiles danced across their young faces as their minds explored the dream world, taking them on adventures and letting them experience amazing stories.

 

2017: Buies Creek, North Carolina

 

Rhett and Link sat on the couch of Rhett's house, they watched as their grandchildren played together and their wives sat in the kitchen, laughing as they shared stories. Both men looked pretty good for their advanced years. They were both currently eighty-two years old. They still had all their hair, but it was completely grey. Wrinkles had formed around their eyes and mouths from lifetimes of smiles and laughter. Throughout the years, Rhett had gotten chronic back pain, having many ruptured discs over the years because of his impressive height of six feet and seven inches. Link's knee was also pretty painful at times, but both men would help each other get around when the pain was bad. Other than that, they were in good shape, healthy and still very young at heart.

 Thunder rumbled in the distance as the pitter patter of the rain hitting the house filled Rhett's ears. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Link turned his head and looked at his life long best friend. A smile spread across Link's face and he placed a hand on Rhett's knee. "Tired, brother?"

Rhett opened his eyes and turned to meet Link's. He smiled a calm, crooked smile back. "A bit, yeah. But, I was thinking, remembering." Link raised his eyebrows with curiosity as he looked as his friend.

"Remembering what, may I ask?"

"The storm, Ireland, the attic." The corner's of Link's mouth upturned in a smile. His eyes squinted a little as the smile reached them. Flashes of memories from their childhood ran through Link's head. Eventually, Rhett's parent's had found Link. It had taken them some time to get to used to him and how he had been there, but they did and Link was accepted as one of the family. Rhett and Link were tutored together by Rhett's personal tutor until moving back to America. Rhett and Link finished school together and went off to college. They became engineers for a few years, until they started working in entertainment. They made a company together and did well until they retired after it became too much. They had both met wonderful women while in college and married them shortly after they all graduated from college. Rhett ended up having two children, while Link had three. They lived good lives, they loved their jobs and they loved being able to work together. Life was good to Rhett and Link, and they couldn't thank God enough for all the blessings He had bestowed upon them throughout the years. 

"What a great day that was, I think about it pretty often, actually. I wonder, if you had never found me, I might still be there, I might still be that lonely, heartbroken little eight year old. I might never have been freed from my curse. You saved me that day, Rhett, and you kept saving me, every single day of our lives."

Rhett smiled calmly and laid his head back against the couch cushion. "You always did the same for me, brother. I'm so happy I could save you. Life got so much better as soon as you entered it. I was completed. You completed me."

"So did mine, brother, so did mine. And, you completed me too." 

"Link?" Rhett spoke quietly and calmly. He was tired, but also very relaxed and at peace. Their grandchildren were oddly being quiet, which made Rhett feel placid.

"Yes?"

"I love you." Link smiled once he heard that. He replied in the very same way Rhett had just moments before.

"Rhett?"

"Yes, brother?"

"I love you too, so much."

Link also closed his eyes, leaning back against the couch. Both men smiled before drifting off to a light sleep. They were so happy, life just couldn't get any better for them. It was perfect, and it would always remain so. Rhett and Link, one could say, lived happily ever after.


End file.
